Final
Bouchard, Demitra fuel Wild past Lightning
Feb 28, 2008 - 5:13 AM TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Pavol Demitra scored twice in a 70-second span in the second period as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning, 3-2, on Wednesday.Mike Smith, who was part of a five-player deal with the Dallas Stars which included 2004 Conn Smythe Trophy winner Brad Richards and goaltender Johan Holmqvist, finished with 24 saves.
Brian Rolston also scored and Bouchard added an assist for the Wild, who ended a four-game winless stretch.
"We just played well," Rolston said. "We got the goaltending we needed as (Niklas) Backstrom really stood tall for us. We knew they were going to be coming hard because they're trying to get back in the race. Anytime you add players like that, it gives you an extra little boost."
Bouchard opened the scoring just 3:46 into the second period with a power-play goal.
His blast deflected off defenseman Paul Ranger and past Smith for his 13th tally of the season.
Demitra doubled the advantage at 4:45 of the second session by wristing a shot past Smith for his 13th tally of the campaign.
After Michel Ouellet's power-play goal halved the deficit with 7:38 remaining the second period, Rolston scored with the man advantage to net Minnesota 3-1 lead.
"I was fighting a lot of things, mentally," Smith said. "It's probably one of the harder games I've ever played mentally. Just everything that's gone on the last couple of days is new to me, so I'm fighting the nerves a little bit. For the most part, I felt pretty good, but I'm disappointed in the outcome."
Jeff Halpern, who also was acquired from Dallas, scored his first goal with Tampa Bay midway through the third to bring the Lightning within one. Halpern's shot from the slot trickled through Niklas Backstrom's pads for his 11th tally of the season.
"I got a very good opportunity tonight," Halpern said. "Sometimes when you're put in those opportunities, it's not enough and you kind of look to chip in those games - so there's always room for improvement. There's a lot of jitters on my end."
The Lightning have won only four of their past 18 home games, while Minnesota posted its first road win since February 14 at Vancouver.
"I think we played well," Minnesota coach Jacques Lemaire said. "We took (seven) penalties, but penalties were not because we weren't working. They were mainly accidents, but we got too many. There's no doubt we had too many."
Tampa Bay coach John Tortorella was brief in his post-game interview after the Lightning lost for the 13th time in their past 18 home games.
"I have no problems with the guys that we traded for," Tortorella said. "I'll leave it at that. It's always a situation for them, when they come in to new teammates and a new situation, but I'll say again, I have no problem the way they played.
"I'm not going to analyze everything. They played well. How many breakaways did our two defensemen give up?"
- NHL
FINAL 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 0 2 1 3
TAMPA BAY 0 1 1 2 FINAL
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: MIN - (PP) PIERRE-MARC BOUCHARD 13 (UNASSISTED) 3:46
MIN - PAVOL DEMITRA 13 (MIKKO KOIVU) 4:56
TAM - (PP) MICHEL OUELLET 9 (PAUL RANGER, JEFF HALPERN)
12:22
3RD PRD: MIN - (PP) BRIAN ROLSTON 24 (KURTIS
Feb 27 10:00 PM - NHL
MINNESOTA 3
TAMPA BAY 2
3RD PRD: TAM - JEFF HALPERN 11 (MATHIEU DARCHE) 9:16
Wild 3, Lightning 2 3rd - 10:44Feb 27 9:40 PM - NHL
MINNESOTA 3
TAMPA BAY 1
3RD PRD: MIN - (PP) BRIAN ROLSTON 24 (KURTIS FOSTER, PIERRE-MARC
BOUCHARD) 1:53
Wild 3, Lightning 1 3rd - 18:07Feb 27 9:29 PM - NHL
END OF THE 2ND 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 0 2 2
TAMPA BAY 0 1 1 END OF THE 2ND
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NONE
2ND PRD: MIN - (PP) PIERRE-MARC BOUCHARD 13 (UNASSISTED) 3:46
MIN - PAVOL DEMITRA 13 (MIKKO KOIVU) 4:56
TAM - (PP) MICHEL OUELLET 9 (PAUL RANGER, JEFF HALPERN)
12:22
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND
Feb 27 9:08 PM - NHL
MINNESOTA 2
TAMPA BAY 1
2ND PRD: TAM - (PP) MICHEL OUELLET 9 (PAUL RANGER, JEFF HALPERN) 12:22
Wild 2, Lightning 1 2nd - 7:38Feb 27 8:54 PM - NHL
MINNESOTA 2
TAMPA BAY 0
2ND PRD: MIN - PAVOL DEMITRA 13 (MIKKO KOIVU) 4:32
Wild 2, Lightning 0 2nd - 15:28Feb 27 8:40 PM - NHL
MINNESOTA 1
TAMPA BAY 0
2ND PRD: MIN - (PP) PIERRE-MARC BOUCHARD 13 (UNASSISTED) 3:46
Wild 1, Lightning 0 2nd - 16:14Feb 27 8:39 PM - NHL
END OF THE 1ST 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MINNESOTA 0 0
TAMPA BAY 0 0 END OF THE 1ST
GOAL SCORING:
1ST PRD: NONE
SHOTS ON GOAL: 1ST 2ND 3RD TOTAL
--- --- --- -----
MIN 6 6
TAM 9 9
GOALIES: MIN - NIKLAS BACKSTROM
TAM - MIKE SMITH
Feb 27 8:11 PM
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